South Africa - Open a Foreign Bank Account

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Procedure

Apply In-Person:

1. To Open a Foreign Bank Account, the applicant has to approach the respective bank where the applicant intends to open an account.
2. An application form will be provided to the applicant by the concerned officer.
3. The applicant has to fill in all the necessary details in the application form. (Incomplete applications are not accepted)
4. Make sure that the applicant has attached all the necessary documents that are mentioned in the “Required Documents” section of this page.
5. The applicant has to attach the photocopies of the required documents along with the application form while submitting.
6. Submit all the documents with the completed form to the concerned officer.
7. The applicant has to pay the prescribed fee as requested by the authority.
8. After receiving the application, the concerned authority will check the submitted application and document set. If all are in place, the application will be accepted.
9. All applications are processed within a reasonable time, having regard to the particular circumstances of each application, including the completeness of information and documents submitted to the authority by the applicant.
10. The authority may seek additional information from an applicant if this is necessary to assess the application.
11. This entire process can be completed within 10 days or as per the timeline advised by the respective department authority.

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Required Documents

• Completed application form
• Tax clearance certificate.
• Certified copy of passport.
• Certificate of Citizenship or Permanent Residency.
• Documents of title pertaining to all your South African owned assets.

Office Locations & Contacts

SOUTH AFRICAN RESERVE BANK
370 Helen Joseph Street,
Pretoria, 0002
P O Box 427,
Pretoria, 0001
Telephone: +27 12 313 3911 / +27 86 112 7272
Email: [email protected], [email protected]
Contact link

Eligibility

• Any person who intends Open a Foreign Bank Account is eligible to make this application.

Fees

• The applicant has to pay the prescribed fee as per the authority’s request.

Validity

Explain the time until which the certificate/document is valid.
e.g. Birth Certificate Valid Forever

Documents to Use

Please attach documents that can be used by people. e.g. links

Sample Documents

Please attach sample completed documents that would help other people.

Processing Time

• This entire process can be completed within 30 days or as per the timeline advised by the respective department authority.

Related Videos

Videos explaining the procedure or to fill the applications.
Attach videos using the following tag <&video type='website'>video ID|width|height<&/video&> from external websites.
Please remove the '&' inside the tags during implementation.
Website = allocine, blip, dailymotion, facebook, gametrailers, googlevideo, html5, metacafe, myspace, revver,
sevenload, viddler, vimeo, youku, youtube
width = 560, height = 340, Video ID = Can be obtained from the URL of webpage where the video is displayed.
e.g In the following url 'http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0US7oR_t3M' Video ID is 'Y0US7oR_t3M'.

Instructions

• Applicants must complete the application form before submitting it. Incomplete applications will not be accepted.
• Applicants must provide genuine information while applying for this procedure.

Required Information

• Name of the applicant
• Address
• Email
• Telephone
• Date of birth
• Sex
• Occupation
• Citizenship

Need for the Document

• Foreign Bank Account means a bank account at a recognised financial institution of which the registered office is outside the boundaries of the Republic of South Africa.

Information which might help

• Foreign Account means an Account in which Foreign Currencies or Securities are held by the Custodian for the benefit of clients whether in comingled accounts or accounts designated for each beneficial owner as is required under the regulatory jurisdiction where the Foreign Account is established.

Other uses of the Document/Certificate

Please explain what are other uses of obtaining this document/certificate.
e.g. Birth Certificate can be used as proof of identity.

External Links

Link

Others

Top Banks in South Africa

• Standard Bank: being one of the largest in South Africa and having a rather long history of banking outside of the country, Standard bank offers a quality selection of services tailored to foreigners.
• Absa: This is one of South Africa's largest banks and as such has a full stack of products available to those seeking everyday banking. They have accounts for youths and students, travel accounts and multi-currency accounts which come with standards such as low monthly fees (waived in many cases) and debit cards.
• Capitec: With over 700 branches and thousands of ATMs and more if the applicant includes partner networks, Capitec is a full-service bank with offers for non-residents too.
• Nedbank: this bank has a wide selection of products for both residents and non-residents. What makes it interesting is that loans are available to non-residents such as mortgages and car loans. They also have a full selection of banking services for investors and wealth management.